Sorry Bro
by Andrea187
Summary: Esposito still has doubts about Castle after his disappearance...but can that change? Rated T, but there will be violence and swearing mostly.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, this story is basically based on the assumption or speculation that Esposito has something against Castle after his disappearance. I hope you enjoy it...and please be patient, because I may take a while to update.**

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><p>It was an average day at the Precinct. There were cases that needed to be worked on, people filling piles of paperwork, the sound of desk phones ringing. An average day, was always a busy day. But in the Homicide floor of the 12th Precinct, things were a little more than just average. There was something special about that place. Maybe the fact that the best crime-solving team resided there, or that one famous mystery novelist shadows one of the detectives there. Whatever it was, the homicide floor is special. Today however, the spark that Richard Castle brought to the bullpen was gone. The place was quiet in a solemn way. Every detective in homicide was concentrated on one single case. Even Captain Gates, who was known for disliking Castle was arguing with the chief of detective and the commissioner, to have more resources and more help.<p>

For detective Beckett, partner in life of Richard Castle, the sight was overwhelming. It felt like those months when he was missing and everyone was trying their best to look for him and support her. Although there was a slight difference this time. Castle's wasn't missing. He was fighting for his life in a hospital, as he tried to save on of their own.

xxxxxxxx Ten Hours earlier xxxxxxxx

The phone woke her with a startle. She was alone in bed.

"Beckett."

_"We got a body." said Esposito's all business voice._

"Text me the address, we'll be there in 20 minutes." Beckett replied and hung up before Esposito could say anything else.

She sat on the edge of the bed, fully awake now, and where was Castle anyway? Lately it was becoming more frequent the times she woke up to an empty bed. She was starting to worry about him, because he wouldn't share what was wrong. She didn't even know at what time would Castle leave the bed, but it was definitely hours before her alarm. That was very unlike Castle, because even when he woke up before her, he would always let her know that he was awake, either by kissing and caressing her gently, or by simply go to the kitchen and start making a fresh coffee pot.

However, these past weeks, she'd been awake only the sound of her alarm and no coffee smell or sweet kisses. She wanted to know what was wrong. They just got back on their feet after his mysterious disappearance, and she didn't want to screw things up. But Castle wouldn't talk to her, and that only made her realize that there was more than what Castle was letting show. She stood up and walked to his office. And there he was, with his head resting on the desk and a certainly uncomfortable position, completely out of it. She walked up to him, and noticed a photo album underneath his head. Beckett then put a hand on his shoulder and shook it gently.

"Castle." Beckett said in a quiet voice.

"Mmm..." He groaned.

"We got a case."

"I'm up..." He slurred, but didn't lift his head to look at her.

"Alright, why don't you go and get ready while I make some coffee..."

"Sounds good..." He was a little more awake now, and so Beckett gave him a quick kiss on the top of his head.

xxxxxxxxxx

The ride to the crime scene was silent. As it was most of these past days. Often Castle wouldn't shut up when they were in the car, which was fine, since Beckett would just listen to him ramble. But this time, even though Beckett knew they had to talk about what has been happening lately, neither of them wanted to break the ice on a particularly sensitive topic.

"So, I was thinking..." Beckett started, but felt flat. "Maybe we could do something tonight."

"I was thinking the same thing." Castle answered, and it felt like the pressure that was threatening to swallow them had dissipated. "Maybe we could go to diner, or something."

"Yeah...I'd like that." she said with a smile.

"It's a date then." Castle replied smiling too, and just as he said that, they arrived to the crime scene.

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><p><strong>AN: Please review, that I love to hear what you guys think, how I'm doing and stuff...also, I know it was kind of a short chapter...but I have some things planned out for this story, so bare with me...Thank you for reading :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys, here's the other chapter...it might seem a little bit angsty, but lately I've been soo annoyed by my roommate, that this was the only way I could lash out.**

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><p>The crime scene was at an apartment complex. It was not unusual to get cases from places like that. There were mostly related to crimes of passion; one-night stands gone wrong, infidelity, money, drugs...but for Castle, it presented the best opportunity to concoct all kinds of "soap-opera" like stories, granting him an eye-roll from Beckett. This time however, this apartment complex was gonna bring much more trouble for the team. They arrived at the 17th floor, where they found CSU already processing the hall right outside the crime scene. The place was really nice, both Castle and Beckett figured it was where wealthy people would live. Ryan was the one who greeted them with a serious expression.<p>

"Hey Ryan, why so serious?" Castle greeted with a bad Joker's imitation.

"Castle what are you doing here?" Ryan said in a low voice.

"What do you mean Ryan?" Beckett intervened.

"Didn't Esposito tell you?"

"Tell me what?" But before Beckett got an answer, Esposito emerged from the bedroom. As soon as he saw Castle, he glared at him in both confusion and anger?

"Castle what the hell are you doing here?" The Latin detective snapped.

"Guys, what's going on?" Castle tried to appease the tense conversation. "You know I hardly get grossed out by anything."

"Is not about that." Esposito replied. "Is about the victim."

"What about it?" Beckett asked, annoyed by the boys attitude.

"Is the fake Henry Jenkins." Ryan answered.

There was a moment of silence between the four of them. Castle was the first one to recover, and went straight into the bedroom, where he assumed the body was, only to wish he had stayed at the living room. Fake Jenkins, was taped to a chair with a large pool of blood surrounding him. There was a deep and large cut on his throat, plus several signs of torture. Dr. Lanie Parish, who was examining the body, as soon as she saw Castle standing there she startled.

"Gosh Castle, you scared me." She said. "And you shouldn't be here writer-boy."

"Lanie..." Castle started. "Do you...uh...do you have any idea...?" He didn't even have to finish the question, when Lanie was already answering it.

"I'm afraid not until I take him back to the morgue" In that moment, the three detectives entered the room. The all had different expression on their faces. Beckett was puzzled and annoyed, but he could tell she wasn't annoyed by him. Ryan on the other hand, was simply confused, but Esposito...well, he was glaring at Castle as if he was a suspect, which was probably why Beckett seemed upset.

"So, what do we know as of right now?" Castle asked. Not because he was trying to keep a less tense mood, but because he needed to know, why both Ryan and Esposito kept looking at him as a suspect.

"There was an anonymous 911 call early this morning, reporting gunshots in the hallway." Ryan reported.

"The odd part, is that fake Jenkins has been dead for more than six hours" Esposito complemented. "We canvased the other apartments, to see if someone heard or saw something, and it turns out that they heard a very heated conversation between our victim here and another man." He continued. "And guess what our mystery man said...'I'm tired of this, I want to remember and you'll help me or I swear you'll never see the light of day again.'." There was an uncomfortable silence, in which Castle realized what Esposito was implying.

"You think I'm the guy Jenkins was arguing with." Castle stated harshly. Esposito was about to reply, but Castle interrupted. "Let me guess...you're about to ask me about my alibi, and then you're gonna contradict anything I say, because your precious evidence is telling you I'm your best suspect right now, forgetting the fact that evidence can be easily fabricated as we've seen in hundreds of cases." Castle pointed out sarcastically.

"Castle..." Esposito started, but got interrupted again.

"Well Detective Esposito, for you information, I was home with my family last night. I never left the house until this morning when you called Beckett with a case." Castle said becoming more upset.

"Castle we're just trying to..." It was Ryan who spoke this time.

"You know what?" Castle snapped. "Save it. I trust your judgement blindly and without reservations." Castle said sarcastically. "After all, you manage to stay objective when falsely arresting your friend for murder." And with that, Castle left the crime scene, leaving everybody in complete silence and utter incredulity.

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><p><strong>AN: Thank you for reading, and please review**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey so this is the next chapter...sorry it takes me that long to update...I've had a lot of work at college, plus was looking for the best way to develop the story...anyway here it is...I apologize in ****advance for the grammar and spelling mistakes...english is not my first language, but I try my best. Oh! By the way, there's some evidence that I totally invented for the purpose of the story, because I need to make some sense of all the weird evidence the showed us in 7x01.**

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><p>As Detectives Beckett, Ryan, and Esposito returned to the precinct with a rather bitter atmosphere, they immediately started working on the few leads they had collected at the crime scene, hoping that it might lead them to the victim's real history. Beckett, who was very upset with Ryan and Esposito, decided to work on the security footage from the apartment complex, hoping to find some kind of lead, other than the neighbors statements.<p>

In the mean time, Ryan and Esposito were looking into the victim, to see if they could find anything that would lead them to the truth, while analyzing the 911 call, and the witnesses statements about such conversation between the victims and the mystery man. However, the atmosphere between the two partners was tense after the argument with Castle. For one, Ryan believed Castle, but also still had some doubts about Castle, regarding his disappearance, which it was clear was connected to this murder. But on the other hand, there was Esposito, who maintained his firm position of viewing Castle as a possible suspect, completely forgetting the fact that Beckett confirmed Castle's alibi right after he stormed out of the crime scene.

"Javi I think maybe we shouldn't have treated Castle that way." Ryan broke the silence between them.

"I'm not gonna apologize for being the only one in this team that remains objective." Esposito replied.

"Except you're not." Ryan argued. "You questioned him at point blank, without even having enough reason, or evidence for that matter."

"Look..." Esposito said turning to look at Ryan. "I was following the logical path here, which is hard enough since we know nothing about what happened during the two months Castle went missing...To me, he still staged his own disappearance for whatever reason, but I'm not gonna let him do more damage to Beckett than he's done already."

"Javi, I have my doubts too, but he's our friend too." Ryan responded. "That means, that we must stand beside him too...just like we stood by Beckett when she was framed of killing Vulcan Simmons...how was that any different?" This time, Esposito had no answer to that.

Meanwhile, Beckett was going nowhere with the security footage. Plus, she wasn't really paying attention since she kept glancing at her phone, hoping for Castle to text her, or call her. However, there a part of her that expected this to happen. He needed some space after that argument. Hell, she was also upset with Esposito's attitude towards her fiancé. He wasn't being fair to him, and Beckett really couldn't understand why. She knew that Espo has always behaved as if she were a sister to him, but this was definitely going too far. Castle was one of their own, he had proven himself numerous times, and the one time he actually needed them to believe in him, he couldn't count on it.

It was unfair. The worst part was that she was part at fault for that too. During those two months without him, her judgement and trust had been clouded by doubt. Even when he came back, she still had doubts about him, until she genuinely saw the confusion on Castle's eyes. Granted, he had forgiven her, but it didn't make it any better for Beckett. She still failed her Castle. That man, with such a big heart, he didn't even judge her for her lack of faith. Sometimes she felt like she can't possibly deserve his unconditional, loyal and completely faithful devotion an love for her. Her cellphone rang. She didn't even checked to see who it was.

"Castle where are you?" Beckett answered.

"Uh...sorry Beckett..." Lanie's voice sounded through the phone. "I guess Castle's not with you." She said, stating the obvious.

"What is it Lanie?" Beckett asked in all business mode.

"I have some information about your victim." The ME replied. "I think you should come down here, as soon as you can."

"I'll be there in 10 minutes." With that, Beckett hung up. Then, she grabbed her badge and gun, and headed towards the elevator, without even telling Ryan or Esposito about it. She was so immersed in her thoughts she bumped with a person coming out of the elevator. "Sorry." She said looking up. It was Castle.

"Hey." He said in a calm tone, yet still upset.

"Hi!" Beckett greeted with a smile. "I was about to call you but...uh...I wasn't sure..." She rambled.

"Is okay." He answered. "I needed some time to calm down." They stood there awkwardly in between the doors of the elevator. "Uh...Where are you going?"

"Oh!" Beckett remembered. "Lanie's got something on the victim, I was going to the morgue."

"I see..." Castle said. "You mind if I come with you?"

"Since when do you ask for permission?"

"Touché." And he followed.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So, your victim definitely died from blood loss, being this wound right here..." Lanie pointed at the deep cut on the throat. "The cause of it. There are also multiple sign of torture, like burn marks on the palm of his hand, suggesting he was burned with a cigarette. Also multiple bruises and fractures, consisting with beating, as well as ligature marks on his wrists and ankles." Lanie finished.

"Where there any matches in the system?" Beckett asked.

"That's why I called you." Lanie answered. "His name and profile was not in the system, but his DNA was a match with two open cases..."

"And...?" Beckett insisted.

"One of them from a cold case from almost 25 years ago..."

"And the other one?" Castle asked. Lanie let out a sigh

"The other one is you abduction case, Castle." Lanie said. "The victim's DNA turned to be a match on one of the samples recovered from the dinghy you were found in"

The room was silent, except of the sound of their uneven breathing. Castle was the first one to recover.

"Well..." He sighed. "I guess that proves I didn't end up in that dinghy on my own."

"The question is how does this connect to the other evidence we found on you, and a case that has been cold for almost 25 years ago." Beckett reasoned, though she didn't notice Castle's expression darkening at the statement. "Alright, I'm gonna go to the archives and get that old case file, see if there's something that can help us in any way...and thanks Lanie." When she reached the door, she realized Castle wasn't following her. "Are you coming Castle?"

"Uh...yeah" He said absently. "Guess is better than hanging out with Ryan and Esposito right now."

"They'll come around Castle." Lanie said, which was a surprise, since Castle would've thought she would lean to Esposito's side. "Oh come on don't give me that look, I know you would never torture someone, let alone kill that person in cold blood." She finished as she saw Castle's expression.

"Yeah...uh...thanks Lanie." Castle responded.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Castle and Beckett were waiting for the files guy to give them the box, containing the information on that 25 year old cold case. In the mean time, Castle kept looking for the right words to tell Beckett his connection to it. He also was taken aback by the fact that fake Jenkins might actually had something to do with it, because as he told him in Montreal, he knew about it. He knew the real reason why he became a mystery writer, and honestly, he didn't what was more terrifying; that his abduction had something to do with that, or that they could end back to square one after this. He didn't notice the files guy bringing the box, so he startled, when the guy dropped it on the table, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"There you go detective" the guy said. "You just sign here please." Beckett signed the check out grid. "Thank you."

"Thanks." She replied. "Come on Castle." Castle, as usual followed her back to the homicide floor. There, they took an empty conference room and got settled.

"Wait." Castle warned, putting a hand on top of the box keeping her from opening it.

"What's wrong?" Beckett asked.

"There's something you need to know first."

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><p><strong>AN: Please review, that I really appreciate what you think.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey guys, so because I've been so busy with college and stuff, I know I've taken too long to post this chapter...anyway here it is...**

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><p>"It's about the cold case we're about to look into." Castle said, looking at anything but Beckett's eyes. "And what safe Jenkins told me in Montreal."<p>

"Okay..." Beckett said, not entirely sure where this conversation was going.

"Well...the only reason I believed him when he said that I asked to forget what happened during those two months, was because he knew something..." Castle took a deep breath. "Something that no one, not even my mother or Alexis, or you know about..."

"I guess that 'something' is inside this box?" Beckett concluded. Castle nodded.

"Remember when you asked me the real reason why I became a mystery writer?" Beckett nodded. "This is it." His voice was barely above a whisper. "This case is actually about 30 years old...I uh...was 11 at the time, my mother was on a tour with a broadway play she was in, and I was left with our neighbor." Castle continued. "Anyway...that February weekend, we decided to go camping to Hollander woods, well actually our neighbor had planned that weekend for a while, so she had no choice but to take me with her. So, we get there and she pretty much left me on my own, which was great...I had all the time to explore without interruptions of any kind..." Beckett could imagine little Castle pretending to be Indiana Jones or something, which was actually adorable. "I was having so much fun I didn't even realize it had turned dark, and when I was just about to turn around, a man came up to me and asked me if I was hungry." Then, he went silent.

"What happened then?" Beckett asked.

"Well, next thing I know I was in some kind of cabin." Castle answered. Beckett noticed how he was starting to be visibly shaken up. "I can't remember how I got there, but I when when I tried to move, I...uh...was bound...I panicked...started screaming, and the man punched me, tried to shut me up...but I kept screaming...I was scared...then he put tape over my mouth...Then he grabbed a shotgun and went out" He closed his eyes. "I was so scared...I kept trying to scream, I cried, I fought...until eventually I gave up."

"I don't..." Beckett couldn't even put into words what she was feeling at the moment.

"He came back about an hour later, this time with a big sack and his shotgun." He continued as if there were no interruptions. "I didn't know what was in it though...anyway...I don't know how long I was there..." There was a small pause, as if Castle was trying to come up with the correct words. "Anyway...I escaped. I found the nearest place to hide, which turned out to be a police station, and got in. My mother was there...she said I had been missing for three days, though I don't remember much of it. The officers asked me if I could take them were I was...so I did...and then my mother took me back home." He finished.

"Castle..." Beckett was at a loss of words. She couldn't picture the despair, the desolation and loneliness. He just gave up. The Castle she knows would never give up.

"Eventually I found out that what he had in that sack was a body." Castle told her. "They found ten bodies...buried at the back of the cabin, they were kids." His voice was barely above a whisper right now, and Beckett understood why he became a mystery writer.

"You never knew why he didn't kill you." Beckett stated. "That's the reason."

"Yeah...pretty much..." Castle let out a sigh.

"I'm so sorry Castle..." Beckett said, though what was she sorry about? Sorry he went through that when he was only a kid? Sorry he disappeared? Sorry he doesn't remember?

"It was a long time ago." Castle cut her off. They spent their time looking through the case evidence in silence, each of them immersed in their own thoughts as Castle spoke again. "I got something."

"What is it?" Beckett asked.

"It says here that when they searched the house, they found evidence of another boy being held in the cabin, but only found trace evidence and DNA. It is a match to the DNA that Lanie found on the dinghy."

"So fake Jenkins was held in that cabin too." Beckett concluded.

"Yeah...but we still a name." Castle thought, and in that moment Ryan appeared.

"I think I can help you with that."

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><p><strong>AN: Thank you so much for reading, please Review **


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